Ren Behan - Author Wild Honey and Rye

Food Writer

Seasonal Food

Simple and in Season May Round Up

Finally I’m back with a round up of all the lovely entries for Simple and in Season May/Spring. A new round is open now for June, with lots of inspiring entries coming in already. At 40 weeks pregnant, there’s now very little space between my bump and the laptop, so please forgive the efficient nature of this round up!

Entries 1-6
Entries 1-6

1. First past the post was Kellie from Food to Glow who sent across her delicious Deconstructed and Reconstructed Rhubarb and Fruit Crumble with the option of using spelt flour, wholemeal flour or a gluten-free mix along with oats.

2. Next, Sally from My Custard Pie in Dubai used bulbs of fennel and rocket from the last market of the season to make a Lentil, Fennel, Orange, Chicken and Rocket Salad. 

3. Ceri from her blog Natural Kitchen Adventures made a Wild Garlic and Amaranth Tabbouleh – move over quinoa!

4. Ros from the More Than Occasional Baker used seasonal British asparagus to make Smoked Salmon and Asparagus Quiche.

5. Choclette from The Chocolate Log Blog used nettles to make some delicious Nettle, Lemon and White Chocolate Cupcakes.

6. And the team at Pro Ware Kitchen (helped by Luna the dog) made a wonderful Thai Red Curry Soup using up pak choi from their veg box.

Entries 7-12
Entries 7-12

7.  Kellie from Food to Glow came back to us with a beautiful supper of Quick and Spicy Crab Parcels (with a vegan option) – using in-season crab.

8. Andrea from Shabby Chic paired two of my favourite things asparagus and halloumi cheese to create her dish of Grilled Asparagus with Halloumi and Myrtle Berry Oil.

9. Elizabeth over at Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary made a super-comforting dish (which I could eat right now!) of Hidden Cauliflower Cheese Pasta Sauce, served with tagliatelle using cauliflower from her veg box.

10. Charlene at Food Glorious Food used Granny Smith’s apples to make her Pork Chop Bake.

11. Vanesther over at family food blog Bangers & Mash made a Wild Garlic Pesto Tear and Share Bread – perfect for the World Cup this weekend!

12. Whilst the very clever Laura from How to Cook Good Food made a stunning recipe of Spaghetti with Fresh Herbs using pea shoots, homegrown leaves and a selection of pretty, fresh herbs.

Entries 13-18
Entries 13-18

 

13.  Camilla from Fab Food 4 All made a Slow Cooked Pulled Lamb with White Wine and Root Vegetables – gorgeous recipe.

14. Sudha at Spicy, Quirky and Serendipitous made Asparagus with Garlic and Soy Sauce.

15. Aniko at Multiculti Kitchen made a refreshing Peach, Rosemary Blossom and Rhubarb Iced Tea – perfect for our warmer weather.

16. Camilla over at Fab Food 4 All came back to us with her Quick One Punnet Strawberry Jam recipe.

17. Elizabeth at Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary also came back with another impressive recipe for a Rhubarb and Saffron Yogurt Cake.

18. And Alida at My Little Italian Kitchen showed us her step-by-step Colourful Fruit Tart or Crostata Di Frutta.

Simple and in Season 4
Entries 19-27

19. Katie at Feeding Boys and a Firefighter is part way through her Weight Watchers Step into Summer Challenge and sent across her Creamy Tagliatelle with Bacon, Asparagus and Tomato – using British asparagus.

20. Vohn over at Vohn’s Vittle’s made a bright and colourful Wild Garlic and Hazelnut Pesto.

21. Anneli at Delicieux made a pretty Layered Chicken and Avocado Salad with Lime and Coriander.

22. Nadine at Juggle Mum made and sent in her Vegetable Ribbon 3 Cheese Pasta, also known as her Pasta Fakeaway.

23. Nazima at Franglaise Kitchen firstly sent in her Jasmine Rice Pannacotta and Rhubarb  Cardomom Compote – well worth a visit.

24. Secondly, Nazima at Franglais Kitchen linked up her Spiced Apple and Rhubarb Hand Pies – for mini hands.

25. Mireille from Chef Mireille’s East West Realm in NYC made a Rajasthan Watermelon Curry – a great way to use up a big watermelon.

26. And Mayuri from Mayuri’s Jikoni joined in with her Garlic Chilli Mogo – using a vegetable I’ve never used before – fresh mogo.

27. To follow up, Mayuri from Mayuri’s Jikoni also send across her Eggless Upside Down Mango Cake – delicious!

Simple and in Season Badge

All of which bring’s May’s Simple and Season to a bountiful close. I’m looking forward to visiting June’s entries already – baby permitting!

LINK UP HERE WITH YOUR POSTS FOR SIMPLE AND IN SEASON JUNE 

A huge thank you to everyone for joining in!

 

Jamie, Tom and Jon & the Westcombe Truffle Cheddar Experiment

Spring has sprung and what better way to celebrate than to be invited to Jamie Oliver’s restaurant Fifteen in London to sample a seasonal menu based around a very intriguing artisan cheddar experiment. It’s not every day that such an invitation comes along; particularly as the ‘experiment’ in question involved 1 kilogram of Italian white truffles, valued at around £3-£4,000 per kilo. The truffles had been given, some eighteen months earlier, to Jamie Oliver who passed them onto his friend Tom Calver at Westcombe Dairy in Somerset, whom Jamie describes as being one of “the best known cheese makers on this planet!” Tom’s challenge was to use the white truffles to make Westcombe Truffle Cheddar, based upon the hand-crafted cheese-making methods used by the Calver family over on Westcombe Farm. Jamie hailed the truffle-cheddar marriage as “a fantastically bonkers experiment” and extended the challenge to Fifteen’s executive chef Jon Rotheram and his team, to create a glorious Westcombe Truffle Cheddar tasting menu.

Jamie Oliver at Fifteen

The menu itself showcased both the very best of British seasonal and artisanal produce, alongside the brand new truffle cheese, whilst raising money for the Jamie Oliver Food Foundation which also supports young trainees through the Fifteen Apprentice Programme. We were also served an impressive selection of British, Italian, French and Spanish wines. The tables were set, the lights were dimmed, Jamie introduced the evening and welcomed his guests and Tom told us about the cheese. Out came the courses (officially seven) on the tasting menu, although we were also treated to some additional truffle cheese tastings and some sweet chocolate truffles at the end of the meal. The only downside for me? At eight month’s pregnant I couldn’t sample any of the wines – though I did relish every mouthful of the accompanying truffle tasting menu!

To start, we tucked into cured meats from Cobble Lane, matched with a British wine; Nyetimber Classic Cuvee, 2009, made in West Sussex. The cured meats were also British made, in London, by Matt, Mat and Adam and they’d easily rival anything made elsewhere in the world. Next, my favourite course of the evening, featuring Wye Valley asparagus with a light and tasty mushroom mayonnaise and Westcombe Truffle Cheddar. This course was served with an Italian wine; Filipi Soave ‘Castelcerine’ (2012) from Veneto. The truffle cheddar, asparagus and a Venetian Soave made an exquisite trio. I adore Venetian wine having sampled much of it on a trip there last year, so I happily tapped into those memories whilst sipping my water.

Wye Valley Asparagus
Wye Valley Asparagus and mushroom mayonnaise with Westcombe Truffle Cheddar – photo credit Fifteen’s Jacques Dejardin.

Midway through the evening, we were served a slow cooked Roscoff onion, with almonds, nettles and smoked Westcombe Truffle Cheddar, whilst Jamie, Tom and Jon did the rounds and chatted to their guests. A little French wine was served with this; a Maison Deux-Montille Pouilly-Fuisse ‘En Vergission’ (2008) from Burgundy. This was also my first taste of British nettles this season – both whole and in a pureed form. Get out and grab them while you can! My grandmother always told me that she survived the war by making nettle soup, with just a handful of nettles and one potato.

More British seasonality, this time in the form of wild garlic, with sweet and sour Westcombe Truffle Cheddar, served with with ‘gnudi’ – a delicate type of gnocchi made with ricotta and flour. This course was accompanied by an Italian wine; Castello di Cigognola Barbera ‘1212’ (2011) from the Lombardy region that I’ve yet to visit.

Another highlight arrived next – grilled veal, with a Welsh truffle rarebit toast. Head Chef Jon had said earlier on that he would have happily eaten the Westcombe truffle cheddar as a Welsh rarebit alongside a good British beer – but that he thought Jamie’s guests would be expecting something a little more elaborate. The rarebit was indeed, very good. Interestingly, the veal was served with a red wine; an Aster Crianza Robera del Duero (2008) from Spain. Lots of guests asked for re-fills of this wine, so I take it from their requests that it was particularly smooth and drinkable. My partner-in-crime, Katie from Feeding Boys certainly told me so!

Just as we were getting full, along came an explosion of freshness, colour and flavour from a blood orange sorbet with a mint granita – definitely now on my ‘must make at home list’- I’d probably try something along the lines of this Lemon, lime and peppermint sorbet, substituting the lemon and lime for fresh blood orange juice.

Westcombe Truffle Cheddar

Towards the end of the evening, now extremely well fed, we sampled some more of the Westcombe truffle cheddar, this time served with thin and crispy oatmeal biscuit and Isle of Bulk Honeycomb. Again, this took me back to eating and drinking in a small cantina in a small village in the north of Italy where cheese, cured meats and honey along with a good bottle of red wine were pretty much all that the locals needed in life. At Fifteen, this course was served with an Italian dessert wine; Pieropan Recioto di Soave ‘Le Colombare’ (2009), also from Veneto.

All in all, this was a truly enjoyable evening; the white truffles had a very intriguing effect on the cheese, breaking it down and giving it a really lovely texture. The flavour wasn’t too overwhelming and was matched perfectly with a menu bursting with seasonality; in keeping with the daily-changing and creative menu at Fifteen.

Fifteen Truffle Tasting Menu

For more of a glimpse of the evening in photo form (I must learn how to use my camera in low-light settings!) pop over to read Matthew’s account over on The List.

Although the Westcombe Truffle Cheddar is unlikely to be available to buy, original Westcombe Unpasturised Mature Cheddar is stocked by Waitrose and by Neal’s Yard, as well as being available in the Westcombe Dairy Farm Shop. 

With thanks to the editorial team at JamieOliver.com for the kind invitation to this event.  

Simple and in Season March

Thank you to all of you who entered and supported Simple and in Season February – there were some lovely seasonal creations, which I’ll be rounding up very shortly. In case any of your are super-keen, here’s the link up for March. This month, I’ve already been busy roasting my rhubarb (forced rhubarb is now in season in the UK) – look out for rhubarb from Yorkshire for the best variety. My own entry for the month will be coming up very soon – I’ll be sharing my roasted rhubarb and ginger curd pancakes, in time for Shrove Tuesday. March is a really exciting month for fresh produce, as spring is hopefully allowed to provide us with a change to some of the hardier winter veg we’ve all be eating. Look out for blood oranges, purple sprouting broccoli, spinach and spring onions, as well as hake and lemon sole, if you’re a fish lover.

Rhubarb

Simple and in Season is monthly seasonal food blog event. This is a community event, open to anyone with an active blog. All you have to do is to write a blog post with a recipe incorporating any seasonal ingredient. It doesn’t matter where you live in the world, you can link up by telling us about anything that is seasonal to you – savoury or sweet. The event will stay open until Monday 31st March, after which there will be a round up and a new link opened for April.

Simple and in Season

This month’s winner (chosen by my kids) will win a copy of Save with Jamie: Shop Smart, Cook Clever, Waste Less. Don’t forget, you can also keep up with my weekly blog posts over on JamieOliver.com for extra inspiration!

Enter your link here:

 

HERE’S A QUICK RE-CAP ON THE GUIDELINES:

  • All you have to do is come up with a dish using any seasonal produce you like (savoury or sweet) post it on your blog, add a link to this post mentioning Simple and in Season and linking to www.renbehan.com and then manually add the link to your post in the box below (via Simply Linked)
  • This round will run up until 31st March 2014. I will pick a winner shortly after (excluding myself obviously) and will include a round-up post including everyone who has entered.
  • You can take inspiration from anywhere – adapt a recipe from your favourite cookbook, try something from a magazine, make up your own creation or share a family favourite. The usual rules apply when using someone else’s recipe, please either get permission from the author to post it or adapt it in some way stating how/why you’ve changed it.
  • Include any seasonal produce you fancy including fruit, veg, herbs, meat or fish.
  • Link as many recipes as you like. You can link posts entered into other blog events or carnivals as long as it involves a seasonal food item (and fits in with their rules).
  • The linky-up is open to anyone, anywhere. I’m happy to post prizes abroad and although it will be nice to feature as much British produce as possible, it will be interesting to see what’s in season elsewhere.
  • By entering your link, you are giving me permission to add your photograph to the round-up. I will link back directly to your post when I include you.
  • If you have questions or problems, email me or leave me a comment in the comment box at the bottom of the post.
  • If you are on Twitter, tweet your link adding the hashtag #simpleandinseason or add me @RenBehan and I will re-tweet it.

There’s are lots more blog events that you can link up to, the more the merrier. Find out more at The Food Blog Diary.

Happy Seasonal Cooking!

Recipe: Slow Cooked Beef Brisket with Celeriac Mash and Wild Mushrooms

Slow cooking is a great way to experiment with different cuts of meat and you can always ask your butcher to recommend a cheaper or less well-known piece. This weekend I slow cooked beef brisket for the first time in a lovely rich beef stock with carrots, baby onions, celery, garlic, tomato puree, port and fresh herbs. The aromas in the kitchen were comforting and warming even before I peeked inside to see how it was getting on. In another first, I bought a celeriac, in season and on offer and made a really delicious celeriac mash to go with the beef stew. This would make a lovely alternative to a traditional Sunday roast. Since it can all be made in advance, if you are feeling brave, invite some friends over and serve this in big bowls with a bottle or two of red wine! You can also serve the brisket with noodles, gnocchi, or even rice.

Beef Brisket

I called my mum for this recipe, she had a few ideas up her sleeve when I mentioned beef brisket. It is a cut particularly suited to slow cooking because it can be a tough cut otherwise. If you didn’t have a slow cooker you could make a pot roast and cook it in the oven, instead. My piece was a rolled joint, which unravelled during cooking. In any case, the meat is so easy to thinly slice or even shred with a fork it didn’t really matter.

Beef Brisket Celeriac Mash

Slow Cooked Beef Brisket with Celeriac Mash and Wild Mushrooms

Beef brisket recipe from my mum

Ingredients

For the slow cooked beef brisket

  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 4 carrots, peeled and chopped into chunks
  • 2 sticks celery, peeled and chopped into chunks
  • 6 baby onions or one whole onion, peeled and chopped into chunks
  • 1 large clove or garlic, peeled
  • 800g piece of beef brisket
  • 250 ml/one cup port, or you can use red wine
  • 2 tablespoons tomato puree
  • 1 litre rich beef stock (I used 2 x Knorr rich beef stock pots)
  • A handful of fresh parsley and thyme, roughly chopped
  • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

For the celeriac mash

  • 1 large celeriac, peeled and chopped into chunks
  • 1 large baking potato, peeled and chopped into chunks
  • 80ml/ 1/3 cup double/heavy cream
  • A small knob of butter

For the wild mushrooms

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon butter
  • 200 g fresh, wild mushrooms

Method

  1. To make the beef brisket, heat one tablespoon of vegetable oil in a large frying pan. Fry the carrots, celery, onions and whole garlic clove for 4-5 minutes until they begin to take on some colour. Transfer the vegetables into your slow cooker or crock pot.
  2. Add the second tablespoon of vegetable oil to the same frying pan and put the beef brisket in, cook it for a few minutes on all sides until it takes on a brown colour. Transfer the beef brisket into your slow cooker or crock pot.
  3. Pour the port into the frying pan and let it bubble for a few seconds. Add the tomato puree, whisk or mix it together into a paste and then pour in the made up beef stock. Stir well and then pour the liquid into your slow cooker or crock pot. Add the fresh herbs, the beef should be covered with liquid. Season with sea salt and plenty of freshly ground black pepper.
  4. Cook on high for 4-5 hours, the longer the better. If you don’t have a slow cooker, use a large casserole dish with a tight fitting lid and cook for 3-4 hours at 160 degreees Celsius/320 F.
  5. To make the celeriac mash, add the celeriac chunks and potato into a large pan, cover with water, bring to a boil and cook for twenty minutes until the celeriac is very soft. Drain, add the cream and butter and mash or puree with a hand blender.
  6. To make the wild mushrooms, heat the olive oil ad butter in a pan, add the mushrooms and fry for 2-3 minutes until golden.
  7. Once the brisket is cooked, carefully take it out of the cooking liquid, slice thinly or shred with a fork. Serve the beef with the vegetables and sauce with the celeriac mash and wild mushrooms on the side.

 Beef Brisket

Some of the ingredients were sent to me to cook with by Forman and Field  including the beef brisket, wild mushrooms, baby onions and port – with many thanks.

For the rest of the weekend, I am also running a competition in association with Knorr to win some of the ingredients  to have a go yourself, or you could make Marco Pierre White’s beef bourguignon or a beef creation of your own.

I’m linking this up to Slow Cooker Sunday hosted by Mediocre Mum and to Simple and in Season  here this month to highlight the celeriac mash and seasonal vegetables.

Photobucket

Have you got any favourite slow cooker recipes? Let me know if you give this recipe a go!

 

Simple and in Season April Round Up

Welcome to the round up of April’s Simple and in Season blog event here on Fabulicious Food!  Once more, we’ve had a delightful selection of seasonal produce, local to all those of you who joined in, including tulip petals, wild garlic, Alphonso mango, figs, watercress, purple sprouting broccoli and lots of ideas for rhubarb. There’s bound to be plenty to inspire you all here!

SimpleandinSeason

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Read more

Simple and in Season Blog Event on Fabulicious Food! – February – Now Open

I’m very pleased to open up a new round of Simple and in Season here on Fabulicious Food! This is a monthly blog event, which showcases some of the best seasonal produce from all around the globe through simple recipes.

If you haven’t joined in before, you can check out the January round-up and winner post to get an idea. Just add your link to the Simple Linked box below.

FEBRUARY LINK UP HERE:

If you’d like a badge to add to your post, feel free to grab the code to the right and add it to your blog posts/sidebars to let people know you are taking part.

Here’s a quick re-cap on the guidelines:

  • All you have to do is come up with a dish using any seasonal produce you like (savoury or sweet) post it on your blog, add a link to this post mentioning Simple and in Season/Fabulicious Food! and then manually add the link to your post in the box above (via Simply Linked)
  • This is the eighth round and it will run up until Wednesday 29th February 2012. I will pick a winner shortly after (excluding myself obviously) and will include a round-up post including everyone who has entered.
  • You can take inspiration from anywhere – adapt a recipe from your favourite cookbook, try something from a magazine, make up your own creation or share a family favourite. The usual rules apply when using someone else’s recipe, please either get permission from the author to post it or adapt it in some way stating how/why you’ve changed it.
  • Include any seasonal produce you fancy including fruit, veg, herbs, meat or fish.
  • Link as many recipes as you like. You can link posts entered into other blog events or carnivals as long as it involves a seasonal food item (and fits in with their rules).
  • The linky-up is open to anyone, anywhere. I’m happy to post prizes abroad and although it will be nice to feature as much British produce as possible, it will be interesting to see what’s in season elsewhere.
  • By entering your link, you are giving me permission to add your photograph to the round-up. I will link back directly to your post when I include you.
  • If you have questions or problems, email me or leave me a comment in the comment box at the bottom of the post.
  • If you are on Twitter, tweet your link adding the hashtag #simpleandinseason and I will re-tweet it.

The winner this month will receive a copy of The Good Cook by Simon Hopkinson published by BBC Books.

I’m looking forward to seeing all your seasonal treats again!

Happy Cooking!

Simple and in Season on Fabulicious Food! Winter Round-Up Part Two (And Winner!)

Here we are again, after rounding up the first half of the Simple and in Season Winter entries, we’re back with Part Two for more seasonal adventures. This time, the theme is definitely orange, with plenty of butternut squash, pumpkin and plenty of fresh, seasonal autumnal cooking…

Entries 1-20 are here.

21. Just past the half-way mark, Wonder Woman I am Not, sent across her Pecan Topped Sweet Potatoes. Unfortunately, there was no picture with the post, but I’m sure we can all imagine the luscious sweetness and the recipe is on the blog.

22. Janet at The Taste Space came back to us with a White Bean, Quinoa and Kale Stew with Fennel. I’m always looking for ways to cook kale so this is bookmarked.

23. Next, Choclette, over at the Chocolate Log Blog made Pumkpin Butter – which Choclette was intending to use in some of her wonderful chocolate recipes – thank you for sharing!

24. Sweet Tiny Blessings (Mandy in Colorado!) joined in for the first time with a Mexican Chicken and Bean Pizza – thank you so much for joining in. This is made with beef (in place of chicken), garlic, cumin, pinto beans, fresh avodaco, fresh tomato, sour cream…the works! AND it’s a Weight Watchers.com recipe if anyone is weight-watching. Also bookmarked!

25. Clare from The Vegetarian Experience made a wonderfully seasonal Pumpkin Risotto or Risotto di Zucca, which was part of a series of pumkpin recipes on her blog. Thanks Clare! I had problems with the photo, so below is a photo for Clare’s Stuffed Pumpkins instead.

26. More loveliness from Janet at The Taste Space, this time a Dragon Quinoa Bowl with Roasted Vegetables and a Miso Gravy. Who needs meat? This is quinoa, topped with zucchini (courgettes) bell pepper, eggplant (aubergine) and brocolli and cubed tofu, topped with a rich miso gravy, sesame seeds and spring onions. Health in a bowl I’d say!

27. Helen from Fuss Free Flavours linked up her Maple Cumin Mash, that she had served with an Asian Beef Wellington – a dish simply packed with flavour and perfectly cooked beef too. I have sweet potatoes, I have carrots, I have cumin, I have maple syrup…I will be making this!

28. Richa in Seattle from Hobby and More joined in with a salad of Roasted Delicta Squash, with Rosemary and Olive Oil, which was gluten free and vegan. Delicious – thank you!

29. Richa also linked up her family recipe for Green Beans with Potatoes – also vegan and gluten free –

30.  Clare from The Vegetarian Experience also linked up her Pumpkin Pie recipe inspired by lots of trips to her Dad in the States – thank you! Again, so sorry, struggling with a photo!

31. The Space Taste came back again with another seasonally-inspired dish, this time a Lime-Spiked Black Bean and Quinoa Wrap

32. Shaheen from Allotment 2 Kitchen made a Brussels Sprout and Blue Cheese Tart inspired by a Brussels Sprout tree.

33. Laura from How To Cook Good Food made these gorgeous little Chestnut Pasties with Sour Cream Pastry and Pickled Cabbage – perfect party food – perefct for anytime.

34. Nazima from Working London Mummy linked up her very scrummy Butternut Squash Soup with Garlic Crostini and Parmesan. We are definitely going to make this, we love butternut squash, we love garlic bread, we love Parmesan!

35. Michelle from Food, Football and a Baby joined in with her take on Mary Berry’s Devonshire Apple Cake. Apart from chocolate cake, I think apple cake takes second place and I love this one! Also made with apples from her neighbour’s garden. Thanks Michelle for sending this across!

Devonshire Apple Cake

36. Michelle also came back with Grandma’s Apple Sauce and Cocoa Cake (with Coffee Glaze) – also inspired by a glut of apples from her neighbour’s garden.

Applesauce Cocoa Cake

37. Clare from The Vegetarian Experience linked up again, this time with her Pumpkin Soup – great colour and a very lovely swirl!

38. Another new blogger to join us was the Fun & Food Cafe who made these delicious Pumpkin Pie Dessert Bars – mmn these look amazing!

pumpkin bars

39. The Fun & Food Cafe also served us Leftover Cranberry Sauce Muffins – since I have a whole load of leftover cranberry sauce, I’ll definitely be making these!

cranberry-sauce-muffins

40. Last, but hopefully not least, I linked up Our Favourite Carrot and Parmesan Risotto, just to round-off our lovely autumnal orange-influenced Winter Simple and in Season! 

AND THE WINNER IS…

After much deliberation…the Simple and in Season Winter winner is Clare Rudd from The Vegetarian Experience for her series of Pumpkin-inspired posts! Clare shared her ideas for the many different ways of using seasonal pumpkin, including Pumpkin Pie, Pumpkin Soup and a wonderful Pumkin Risotto, leading to the Stuffed Pumpkin she made as an alternative to Christmas dinner on Christmas Day. Thank You Clare, a copy of Discover Organic Cook  Book is on its way to you. I hope there are plenty of vegetarian recipes in there to inspire you.

Don’t forget to link up all your seasonal recipes now – the January link up is open until 31st January and you could win a copy of The Good Table by Valentine Warner.

Thank You to everyone for entering!

 

Simple and in Season Blog Event on Fabulicious Food! New Season Launch – January

Simple and in Season on Fabulicious Food! has returned after a short seasonal break. Thank you so much to everyone who linked up to the last round, forty entries, from all over the world, celebrating and showcasing the very best seasonal produce. After lots of umming and ahhing, I’ve decided to keep the format exactly the same, though we will be sticking to a monthly deadline of the end of the month, with a round-up post very shortly after. The Winter round-up post will be live on Monday, along with an announcement of the winner.

JANUARY LINK UP HERE –

We have a new badge, which will stay the same every month, so feel free to grab the code to the right and add it to your blog posts/sidebars to let people know you are taking part.

Here’s a quick re-cap on the guidelines:

  • All you have to do is come up with a dish using any seasonal produce you like (savoury or sweet) post it on your blog, add a link to this post mentioning Simple and in Season/Fabulicious Food! and then manually add the link to your post in the box above (via Simply Linked)
  • This is the seventh round and it will run up until Tuesday 31st January 2012. I will pick a winner shortly after (excluding myself obviously) and will include a round-up post including everyone who has entered.
  • You can take inspiration from anywhere – adapt a recipe from your favourite cookbook, try something from a magazine, make up your own creation or share a family favourite. The usual rules apply when using someone else’s recipe, please either get permission from the author to post it or adapt it in some way stating how/why you’ve changed it.
  • Include any seasonal produce you fancy including fruit, veg, herbs, meat or fish.
  • Link as many recipes as you like. You can link posts entered into other blog events or carnivals as long as it involves a seasonal food item (and fits in with their rules).
  • The linky-up is open to anyone, anywhere. I’m happy to post prizes abroad and although it will be nice to feature as much British produce as possible, it will be interesting to see what’s in season elsewhere.
  • By entering your link, you are giving me permission to add your photograph to the round-up. I will link back directly to your post when I include you.
  • If you have questions or problems, email me or leave me a comment in the comment box at the bottom of the post.
  • If you are on Twitter, tweet your link adding the hashtag #simpleandinseason and I will re-tweet it.

This month the winner will receive a copy of The Good Table by Valentine Warner, published by Mitchell Beazley/Octopus Books.

I’m looking forward to seeing all your seasonal treats again. I have also launched a second linky up called Family Friendly Fridays, which you are welcome to enter too if you have any recipes  more suitable for that.

Happy Cooking!

 

Baked Aubergine (Yotam Ottolenghi Recipe)

I have to say that when I popped into my local Morrisons store this week, I did not expect to be met by such an amazing array of seasonal fruit and vegetables. I almost started taking photographs, but held back, in case someone thought I was mad. They did recently refurbish the store and so now it has a true ‘market’ feel but the produce was really far beyond anything I’ve ever seen at a supermarket in Britain before. Much of it was organic, there was also a section of locally grown produce as well as more unusual varieties of fruits and vegetables, such as the graffiti aubergines and the candy striped beetroot below, as well as fresh pomegranates. There must have been at least twenty different varieties of chili, fresh herbs and salad leaves kept watered and fresh, British heritage varieties of apples, pears as well as bang-in-season fresh spinach, artichokes, salsify, wild mushrooms, really everything you could imagine or look for. I am converted. It is so encouraging to see supermarkets really starting to support and push British seasonal produce and offer it at a reasonable cost.

Find the recipe here:

When I came home I immediately dived into one of my favourite cook books, Plenty, by Yotam Ottolenghi  to find a recipe for Aubergines with Buttermilk Sauce. I didn’t have lemon thyme, so I just used grated lemon zest and that seemed to work fine. Everything else was as Yotam suggests.

I will say without hesitation that this dish is simple to prepare – watch the lovely Yotam make it on You Tube here – (I could just keep this playing and listen to it all day!) When cooked, it looks visually beautiful (perfect for a dinner party) and tastes delicious. I was happy to be able to use some of my Steenbergs Za’atar  (Steenbergs make organic and Fairtrade herbs and spices) which was screaming to be used since being found inside my goodie bag from Food Blogger Connect over the summer. All in all, a fun and inspiring trip to the shops and a simple but tasty lunch!  I will be linking this up with Simple and in Season where already the entries are coming in thick and fast!

 

This week I also got to meet Karen from Lavender and Lovage for lunch. Karen is based in South West France and has immersed herself this year into food blogging, having been already made a career out of professional food writing, photography and food styling, writing features and columns for Country Kitchen magazine as well as other British publications. Karen and I easily spent almost three hours chatting about food, blogging and how much we both enjoy being part of such a friendly online community.  We both said how much we enjoyed finally meeting one another, it’s always lovely to be able to meet in person, in addition to enthusiastically tweeting and commenting on posts! Karen was very sweet to my children and bought me some lovely French chocolat au Citron Noir (delicious) and also these beautiful cabbage plants. In the time that we spent together I also became slightly addicted to the Oreo Cookie Hot Chocolate I was drinking ay the Secret Garden Cafe in St Albans! Thank you Karen for my gifts and for coming to meet us.

So that’s it for now, the end of another busy half-term week. A burst pipe in my kitchen is being fixed as I type, Halloween is looming, I have to work on my macaron making skills as I have been sent a lovely gift set to try by Lakeland and next week will mark my first year of blogging milestone! I’ve also been challenged to take part in a video blogging competition, which I’m very nervous about but will do my best! 

Later today I’ll also be announcing the winner of the Leon Baking & Puddings cook book giveaway which has been very popular. There’s still time to enter if you haven’t already. 

What are your plans for the weekend? Have you been inspired by any produce or cookbooks this week?

 

Simple and in Season Winter Recipe Link Up

Welcome to another round of Simple and in Season. Each month I wonder whether it will be the last, but with 45 entries last month, which I had to split into savoury and sweet in the round-ups, I am encouraged to keep going and open up a new round! Thank you to everyone who took part last month.

Next weekend, the clocks will go back in the UK which means that the days will seem even shorter, light will be at a premium and I’m sure we’ll all be eager to make warming winter food!

My apple tree is laden with apples and my neighbour’s tree has pears, so I’ll be busy baking! This week I’ve made the cake that’s featured on the cover of BBC Good Food magazine – a really yummy Spiced Toffee Apple Cake  that I’ll be posting about soon – perfect for Bonfire Night, or really any night!

At this time of the year, you’ll also find lots of squash, beetroots and  winter cabbages. I’ll also be hosting a Crock-Pot giveaway too this month and am looking forward to sharing a few slow-cooked soups and stew recipes too, mmm.

And, if you are preparing food in advance for Christmas, feel free to link-up too – maybe you’re making fruit liqueurs…?

Anyway, as always, I’ll look forward to seeing what’s in season wherever you are around the world – so many of you have been submitting so many really inspirational stories and recipes.

Don’t forget, if you are on Twitter, you can Tweet Me and I will Re-Tweet any links I see – @RenBehan 

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Simple and in Season September ‘Sweet’ Recipe Round-Up

So here we have Part Two of the September Simple and in Season entries and we really were spoilt for choice when it came to this month’s ‘sweet’ seasonal offerings. Part One (Savoury) was rounded up here. 

Firstly, I’m so pleased to announce that our winner this month is Urvashi from The Botanical Baker. You may recognise Urvashi as she was recently a contestant in The Great British Bake Off.  She did brilliantly well, adding some really interesting ingredients to her baking. Urvashi’s blog is inspired by her love of baking and flowers, particularly their nutritional values and Urvash’s bright and clever entry this month really brought a smile to my face. Take a peek at Urvash’s post to see how she made a damson compote (with fresh damsons, soft brown sugar and cinnamon) and folded this into a cake mixture which involved ground almonds and polenta. As if that isn’t wonderful enough, the cake was then drizzled with Damson Vodka…I promise, the vodka wasn’t the reason this entry won!

Anyway, congratulations to Urvashi who wins this month – I’ll be in touch to arrange your prize.

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Simple and in Season September ‘Savoury’ Recipe Round-Up

This month the Simple and in Season link-up had 45 entries! Granted, the round was open slightly longer than usual, but the end of summer and beginning of autumn did bring an abundance of seasonal treats.

So, for this round-up, I have split the entries into Savoury and Sweet – and we’ll start with a round up of savoury recipes before moving onto dessert with plenty of inspiration in time for National Baking Week!

Savoury Entries

We start with a recipe from Lauren over at The Past on A Plate who made a Beetroot and Apple Salad – prefect for the competition, it’ simple and it’s in season! I love Lauren’s retro-style photo.

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Pear And Chocolate Brownies

Oh go on then. We obviously haven’t had quite enough of National Chocolate Week yet and I did mention some Pear and Chocolate Brownies in my post yesterday so I am sharing…

This is a post for the Autumnal Baking Challenge over at What Kate Baked – there’s still time to enter so you might like to have a look too.

Pear & Chocolate is a classic combination and pears are one of my favourite autumnal fruits, which I try and incorporate in cooking and baking as much as possible. For these, I used my most turned-to chocolate brownie recipe which is one I saw during a Pampered Chef demonstration many moons ago and have never quite been able to improve upon.

The original recipe is called Banana Nut Brownies and uses two bananas instead of two pears and the addition of 100g mixed toasted nuts. Since I was baking these for the kids (mainly) I missed out the nuts because they would just sit there and insist on picking them out. Using pears instead of bananas gives the same soft, squidgy effect but with a different flavour. Healthy?!

As to whether or not they come out of the oven with a crispy top – it’s a bit hit and miss with this recipe. I think it probably depends on the moisture in the pears, they are crispier when made with banana but still very squidy in the middle. It doesn’t really matter to me – it’s chocolate after all. They keep very well in an airtight container AND this recipe is really easy as it doesn’t require a mixer of any kind so it’s a great one to make with the kids as it is really just measuring, pouring and stirring.

 

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Baked Victoria Plums & My First ‘New Home’ Post!

Well, this is both exciting and scary at the same time! Ta da  – Fabulicious Food! has made the very long cyber journey across from Blogger to WordPress!

I am totally overwhelmed by the help, expertise and professionalism of Liz of Violet Posy Design who has done an amazing job, with about a million technical issues thrown at her too.

It’s going to take me a little while to settle in and get used to the way things work, but hopefully not too long.

If you are experiencing any problems or issues, please do drop me a line.

If you previously subscribed to posts via the RSS feed I’m afraid it has changed and you’ll have to re-subscribe using the icon to the right.

On Monday I will also be hosting a really amazing giveaway so do stay tuned.

For now, I’m sharing this lovely autumnal plum recipe as there are tons of English plums around at the moment and they are my very favourite fruit.

Simple and in Season September is now open and working – anyone who left me a comment with a link should now find themselves on the current link-up page.

About to hit ‘publish’ so here goes!

 

 [gmc_recipe 382]

 

 Thank you for visiting and for all your lovely comments so far.

Simple and in Season September Blogging Event

I’m so pleased to welcome you all to another round of Simple and in Season. We are now into September and on the brink of Autumn here in the UK, though elsewhere some of you may still have sunshine…

The link-up is closed for now and a round-up will follow shortly. I will be opening a new link soon for links to October/November seasonal recipes.
 
 
In the UK we are moving into autumn now. There will be plenty of wild mushrooms around (my mum and I foraged some wild mushrooms in a forest in Wales!) Look out for sweetcorn, kale and samphire. Fruit-wise, we are into peak Victoria Plum season, you may find some autumnal raspberries, blackberries, apples and pears. We are on a drive to eat more fish and so will be trying sea trout this month.
 
Anyhow, please add your link to the form below –


 

 
 A very quick re-cap on the guidelines –
 
•All you have to do is come up with a dish using any seasonal produce you like (savoury or sweet) post it on your blog, mention Simple and in Season/Fabulicious Food! and add a link to your post in the box below (via Simply Linked).

•This is the fifth  round and it will runs up until 15th October 2011. I will pick a winner shortly after (excluding myself obviously) and will include a round-up post including everyone who has entered.

•You can take inspiration from anywhere – adapt a recipe from your favourite cookbook, try something from a magazine, make up your own creation or share a family favourite. The usual rules apply when using someone else’s recipe, please either get permission from the author to post it or adapt it in some way stating how/why you’ve changed it

•Include any seasonal produce you fancy including fruit, veg, herbs, meat or fish

•Link as many recipes as you like. You can link posts entered into other blog events or carnivals as long as it involves a seasonal food item (and fits in with their rules)

•The linky-up is open to anyone, anywhere. I’m happy to post prizes abroad and although it will be nice to feature as much British produce as possible, it will be interesting to see what’s in season elsewhere.

•If you have questions or problems, email me or leave me a comment in the comment box at the bottom of the post.

Happy cooking and eating!

Oops, nearly forgot, the winner will receive a copy of Stewed! by the lovely Alan Rosenthal to get you in the mood for proper autumnal cooking.
 
Stewed!

Spiced Seasonal Vegetables with Puy Lentils

September means change. The summer has flown by and a new term starts this week. It doesn’t feel as though summer should be over and it doesn’t feel as though autumn should be starting, but it’s windy here and there are showers and saying goodbye to the sunshine seems inevitable.

I feel like eating lentils. There is something wholesome and comforting about lentils. And I have lots of veggies left over from my organic veg box delivery, deep purple glistening aubergines, still earthy carrots, imperfect courgettes. Chopping up these veggies into very small pieces is strangely therapeutic. Minimal cooking, maximum flavour. The spices in my shiny new tin want to be used too, some cumin seeds, mustard seeds and coriander.  Nothing wild, just some extra warmth. I’m very happy to throw in ready-cooked lentils, I’m not in the slow cooking zone yet…
 
You can use any veggies that you have around for this recipe, red peppers would work well too, though I have an aversion so they never feature in my cooking. Tiny cubes of butternut squash would also be nice, if you have the patience to peel and want orange fingers.   
 

 

 

Spiced Seasonal Vegetables with Puy Lentils and Crème Fraiche
Serves 2
Ingredients
1 tablespoon oil
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 red onion, finely chopped
1 aubergine, cubed
5 baby carrots, peeled and cubed
2 courgettes, cubed
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
100g chopped tomatoes
1 packet or tin of ready cooked puy lentils
2 tablespoons Crème fraiche or natural yoghurt
Baby herbs to garnish
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
Method
1. Heat a tablespoon of oil in a pan big enough to fit in all your chopped veggies. Gently fry the cumin and mustard seeds for one minute.
2. Add the chopped onions to the pan and cook for five minutes until soft. Add the aubergines and carrots cook for another five minutes. Add the courgettes and stir them around to coat them, cook for two minutes.
3. Sprinkle over the ground coriander and add the chopped tomatoes.  Season with a pinch of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Cook on a gentle heat until the carrots are just soft.
4. At the end, add in the puy lentils and heat through. Serve with a few spoons of crème fraiche and baby herbs, such as coriander or Greek basil.

Look out for more changes to come in the coming weeks…a big switch over to Word Press for me.

Thank you also for all your entries into August’s Simple and in Season – a round-up will follow!
What are you eating now? Are you into autumnal comforts yet or are you staying faithful to summer?

Chicken Soup with Seasonal Vegetables

A really big thank you to everyone who entered the Forman and Field/Knorr Giveaway towards the end of last week here on Fabulicious Food! It was a fantastic response to a lovely prize and there were some really interesting ideas for what to do with the Oak Smoked Trout and the new Knorr Herb Infusion Stock Pots.

I’m pleased to announce that the winner of the Gourmet Hamper Box was Phil Simpson in Inverness – your box is on its way to you!
I was quite eager to get stuck in to the contents of my box, which included some lovely fresh seasonal vegetables, lamb neck fillet from Allens of Mayfair, as well as the smoked salmon and trout from Forman and Field.  I was also eager to try the new Knorr Herb Infusion Stock Pots. The stock pots should be available in the shops soon.
I decided to use up the vegetables first and give the Herb Infusion Stock Pots a go and came up with a recipe (below) for a Quick Chicken Soup with Seasonal Vegetables, using some leftover chicken. I have to say, since I made this soup in less than ten minutes, I was very impressed with the flavour so the stock pots were a definitely a hit! The kids really enjoyed it too.
My trick was to cook the vegetables in the Herb Infusion Stock Pot, adding a knob of butter and to gently pan-fry the (cooked) chicken breast pieces in a separate pan to give them a little colour before adding it all together. Using fresh seasonal vegetables (spring onion, carrots and fresh peas) and adding a touch of butter to the herby stock pot gave a lovely sweet tasting soup – nothing else at all was needed.
I’m yet to have a go at the Quick Lamb Stew recipe created by Marco Pierre White for Knorr and I will share that with you as soon as I’ve road-tested it along with a recipe using the salmon or trout from Forman and Field.
My favourite idea from among those suggested in the competition was to make a smoked trout pâté. My own idea would be to make a quick and easy Hollandaise sauce to go with the trout…so watch this space! 
Quick Chicken Soup with Seasonal Vegetables

 

Ingredients:

1 Knorr Herb Infusion Stock Pot (contains vegetable stock, bay, thyme and parsley)
500ml boiling water
25g butter
4 spring onions, washed and trimmed
8 baby carrots, peeled
250g fresh peas
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 Pre-cooked chicken breasts (sliced) or left-over roast chicken

Method:

1. Mix the Knorr Herb Infusion Stock Pot with 500ml of boiling water. Stir until dissolved and add it to a saucepan.
2. Bring the stock pot back the the boil and add in your spring onions, baby carrots, fresh peas and butter. Boil for 7 minutes.
3. In the meantime, while the vegetables are boiling, heat a separate frying pan and add in the olive oil. Gently fry the sliced chicken breast pieces until golden then flip over and fry on the other side.
4. Add the cooked chicken to the vegetables and stock.
5. Serve at once.

Simple and in Season July PART TWO & Winner!

Hello there! Ready for more?! This is second half of July’s Simple and in Season round-up as there were simply too many to get through in one stint. Obviously, I didn’t do what everyone told me to do, which was add the entries to a draft post each time they were linked-up. There’s always a next time!

A huge congrtulations to Karen from Lavendar and Lovage who wins with her Vanilla and Cream Terrine with a Compote of Mixed Summer Berries – see this and more posts below.
At the half way mark, A Trifle Rushed joined us with her seasonal treat. Quite apart from the food, I love the name of this blog and this month I enjoyed seeing the process of Apricot and Lavender Jam being made from a 5kg box of apricots from Brittany. I love the fact that the first thing A Trifle Rushed thought about when reaching France was what to cook and this box of apricots made a huge amount of jam – perfect with a fresh baguette!
Next, an entry from Cooking in Westchester, a blog based in  a county of New York called Westchester. A lovely post entitled “The Blue Banner of Summer” shared an even lovelier recipe for Blueberry Buckle – a cake made with fresh seasonal blueberries and a streusel/crumble topping. Looks delicious!
The lovely Helen from Fuss Free Flavours shared a really tasty recipe for Rice and Peas called Risi & Bisi. Helen was babysitting a gerbil and came across a book on the shelf called ‘A Feast for the Eyes’ in which she found the recipe for a risotto-like dish flavoured with Parma ham and fresh seasonal peas. Thanks Helen for entering – this looks like the perfect seasonal supper.
More seasonal blueberries….Dancing Veggies shared a recipe for a Rustic Blueberry Apple Pie. The apples were picked from an orchard and blueberries from the farmer’s market for this pie, though Dancing Veggies says that almost any seasonal fruit could be used, such as peaches.
Another two entries from The Taste Space followed (see  part one for six more seasonal recipes from The Taste Space team). This time we have 15-Minute Zippy Garlic-Basil Marinara with Zucchini Noodles. Zucchini or Courgettes as they are know in England are definitely in season here too and this is a great twist on a classic spaghetti dish. I really like the fresh and healthy look of this dish.
This was followed by an Asparagus Ribbon Salad with Mosto Cotto and Almonds. Mosto Cotto is an aged condensed Balsamic vinegar which makes a simple dressing for any salad. Here The Taste Space used local asparagus.
 
Next, a great post from Kate’s Cakes and Bakes called “Cake Disaster Management: Strawberry Tiramisu Cake” which Kate says involved “13% inspiration, 32% perspiration, 10% cursing inanimate objects and 45% disaster management” after her two sponge cakes collapsed in the oven. I love recipes that happen because of a failed incident of some kind or other and this one is a perfect example of how to rescue an otherwise failed baking attempt! Great work Kate. I also love the fact that one of the comments on the post is from someone called ‘The Caked Crusader’ – what a great name. The finished product looks delicious to me; I love Mascarpone cheese and this is another great twist on an Italian classic. Disaster averted!
Now, Karen from Lavender and Lovage is a huge inspiration to me. Karen shared a recipe for a Vanilla and Cream Terrine with a Compote of Mixed Summer Berries, inspired by Delia Smith’s Summer Cookbook with the berry compote as her own addition. This entry, for me, is summer on a plate – making Karen this month’s winner! 
I love the little sprigs of lavender creeping into the photo and the vibrant green mint contrasting the wonderful mix of berries. Underneath I can just imagine scooping up the creamy vanilla terrine….just perfect!
But wait…there are more seasonal treats in store from Karen at Lavender and Lovage in her garden in South West France. This time, a recipe for Berry Beautiful English Summer Fruit Pies, which was a recipe that Karen herself, as a Food Writer, had once submitted to  Country Kitchen magazine. Thank you Karen for sharing!
More garden berries over at Lavender and Lovage inspired this lovely Mixed Currant and Lavender Jelly, a wonderful recipe to go with cheese, charcuterie or cold cuts on a summer afternoon. Amazing that all these recipes should come from one crop of fruit bushes in the garden!
Karen from Lavender and Lovage also held a Summer Tea Party and invited us all to share her Devon Cream Tea with Strawberry Jam. Karen’s a post includes two recipes – a family jam recipe and a scone recipe – both combining to make a quintessential British summer treat. I think if Karen hadn’t won with her Vanilla Cream Terrine recipe, she would have won with this one – it was a close call! 
Onto more summer strawberries, Paula from Sweet Hearts Cakes and Bakes joined us for the first time with her recipe for Strawberry Cream Cupcakes adding fresh seasonal strawberries into the cupcake batter and topping them with a swirl of fresh cream and a slice of strawberry. Strawberries are my favourite summer fruit too, so I will definitely be giving these a try! Welcome Paula.
 
Another new entrant, this time Equal Opportunity Kitchen a mother and daughter team from Otawa made No Sugar Raspberry Jam. This recipe was inspired by a pick-your-own berry trip and the ‘no sugar’ element requires ‘No Sugar Needed Pectin’ and Agave Nectar or honey to sweeten. This is a really clever jam recipe with easy step-by-step instructions.


Next, another recipe from me! I made homemade Granola or Honey Nut Toasted Oats with a Ribena Berry Sauce made from ‘in season’ blackcurrants. It was delicious, even if I do say so myself!

Karen from Lavender and Lovage came back to us, this time with a savoury dish called Summer Herb and Wild Salmon with Fresh Garden Peas inspiring a picnic at the bottom of the garden. Look at the beautiful decoration on this pie!
The Taste Space team also came back with one more, this time a Millet Bowl with Spinach, Leek and Toasted Pumpkin Seeds. Definitely one I will be trying – looks so healthy!
And last, but by no means least, Laura from How to Cook Good Food shared her Cherry, Almond and Polenta Crumble Cake, which looks amazing. I too am always torn between cherries and plums and I really love cakes with crumble toppings so I’m off to make this now!
THANK YOU so much to everyone who entered Simple and in Season July! I’m looking forward to next month’s seasonal treats already!

 

Simple and in Season July Round-Up PART ONE!

I’m just going to get straight into the round-up for July’s Simple and in Season as a) I’m late again and b) there were a staggering 38 entries and so there are just too many to get through!

I’m also going to post in in two parts as I’m exactly half-way through now so I might as well go for it. The second part of July’s seasonal treats will follow tomorrow, along with an announcement of the winner. I’m still deciding!

PART ONE!

We kick off with Purely Food who made a delicious Peach, Feta, Prosciutto and Rocket Salad – probably one of my all-time favourite flavour combinations. I’ve made this salad before with mozzarella, but feta makes a great alternative and peaches are currently perfectly ripe! Claire is from Cheshire, which is where I was last week. We could have had a foodie meet up! Next time perhaps. Thank you for entering. 
 
 
Our next entry was from the lovely Jacqueline at Tinned Tomatoes who made a Scottish Raspberry Jam. Ooh, I could just do with some of this on my toast! Jacqueline had been to visit a lovely berry farm and, inspired by jam making, sought out loads of other wonderful jam recipes to try. Go and have a look!
 
The next few entries are from one of our regular Simple and in Season contenders – Tadka Pasta who made Berry Blast – Ruby Raspberry Scones and a Red Berry Crumble. Don’t these look amazing?! Perfect for a glut of summer fruit. Then another entry followed called Strawberry Swirl Rice – what a lovely bright photo!

 
 
 
I’m also getting to know Taste Space from Toronto thorough this event. This month we had a really unique recipe for Warm Leek and Flageolet Bean Salad with a Mustard Dressing, where white beans met caramelized leeks making an amazing salad perfect for a summer barbecue.
 
 
We also had a second entry from Taste Space, a Roasted Carrot and Lentil Soup with Harissa and Mint. I love lentil soup. A third tasty and seasonal savoury entry, a Bulgar and Canteloupe Salad with Mint and Hazelnuts, mmmn.

Another amazing-looking dish came along – Sushi Bowl with Asparagus and Avocado – a kind of de-constructed sushi inspired by 101 Cookbooks and a trip to Vancouver. Taste Space also shared a perfectly names Luscious Lentil and Basil Soup, which was packed full of flavour as well as a wonderful Greek Baked Beans recipe.

All pretty healthy stuff, perfectly showcasing the best of Canadian seasonal produce. Wow, is all I can say!

 
Following all of this this, for dessert Taste Space shared a Raspberry Cashew Dream Cake – a really lovely vegan cheesecake using cashews and dates for the base and blended cashews for the topping! Taste Space was very busy this month! Thank you so much for sharing across the miles.
 
 
Next, Allotment 2 Kitchen linked an Aubergine, Tomato and Tamarind Stew, using seasonal aubergine and teaming it with store-cupboard chickpeas and tomatoes. Thank you, Shaheen, for entering this recipe. It is lovely.
 

A new entrant, I believe, from a lovely blog called GirliChef, sharing her recipe for Fruits & Grains Salad with a Strawberry Vinaigrette. Thank you so much for joining in! Just look at this stunning salad – I love the edible flowers and the fruits make it so appetizing.

This month, Sharky Oven Gloves (Mel) who won Simple and in Season last month warmed herself up on a cold day in Scotland and made a delicious Aubergine and Lamb Gratin. I love the fact that this was adapted form her ‘Mum’s folder of random recipes!’ We’ve all got one of those! It’s so easy to make – a perfect Simple and in Season entry!

 
My own contributions this month included my favourite summer salad – a Beetroot, Feta and Walnut Salad. Although obviously, I’m biased, this one is really easy to make and tastes yummy! I also made a ridiculously health  Sweetheart Cabbage & Basil Soup, using a seasonal Sweetheart cabbage – also known as a pointed cabbage.
 
 
 
Sanchita, The Nutty Cook put British seasonal cherries to good use on National Cherry Day by making a really interesting Cherry Chutney. I love the colour of this and the use of cherries.
 
DSC_0442
 
Another delicious cherry recipe, this time from MeLikeyUK who made a Comforting Clafoutis. I also made my very first clafoutis recipe this month which I hope to share later on, using British cherries.
 

So, that’s the first half of July’s recipes in a round-up. Check back tomorrow for Part Two!

Simple & In Season August – Now Open!

Hello again! We’re firmly into school holiday territory now and finding the time to blog is proving to be quite a challenge.  However, today I’m launching Simple and in Season August!

There are so many great summer ingredients at their best in August as we get the best of the late summer fruits just before moving into Autumn, including even more berries and my favourite fruit – Victoria plums. If you are a keen vegetable gardener you might have broad beans or courgettes growing in abundance – both are also widely avaiable to buy and at great prices.
I was asked the other day whether following the seasons in the kitchen is more expensive and my answer was a very emphatic NO! It is actually cheaper! Markets and shops are so keen to push British or local produce – it costs them less to supply it because they aren’t having to paying for produce to be shipped in from across the world. Many places will have entire sections offering seasonal produce at cut-prices or you can go and pick-your-own fruit or take a huge bag to the market. If you go later on in the day stall holders always try to shift bowls of seasonal produce for a fraction of the normal price. Or, if you are growing your own your garden will be full of free produce! 
Cooking according to what’s ‘in season’ has long been the secret of great chefs. Why? because seasonal food tastes so much better and so really, you have to do very little to create good flavour. Seasonal food really speaks for itself. 
I love that you are all linking up your recipes and showing us what is available and where. I’m on a personal mission to find courgette flowers this month (as per the picture above) as they are edible and look so pretty.

Link Up HERE –

 

August’s winner will receive a copy of Mark Diacono’s lovely book A Taste of the Unexpected. Mark won the Guild of Food Writers Food Book of the Year Award in 2011 and it really quite an inspirational and unique book.
A Taste of the Unexpected

Here is a re-cap on the guidelines:



•All you have to do is come up with a dish using any seasonal produce you like (savoury or sweet) post it on your blog, mention Simple and in Season/Fabulicious Food! and add a link to your post in the box above (via Simply Linked).

•This is the third round and it will runs up until the end of July. I will pick a winner on 1st August (excluding myself obviously) and will include a round-up post soon after including everyone who has entered as well as launching the next month’s challenge

•You can take inspiration from anywhere – adapt a recipe from your favourite cookbook, try something from a magazine, make up your own creation or share a family favourite. The usual rules apply when using someone else’s recipe, please either get permission from the author to post it or adapt it in some way stating how/why you’ve changed it

•Include any seasonal produce you fancy including fruit, veg, herbs, meat or fish.

•Link as many recipes as you like. You can link posts entered into other blog events or carnivals as long as it involves a seasonal food item (and fits in with their rules)

•The linky-up is open to anyone, anywhere. I’m happy to post prizes abroad and although it will be nice to feature as much British produce as possible, it will be interesting to see what’s in season elsewhere.

•If you have questions or problems, email me or leave me a comment in the comment box at the bottom of the post.

Feel free to use this badge on your blog, simply copy and paste.

 

Simple and in Season July – now closed

Wow, what a fantastic month July has been for Simple and in Season entries! July’s seasonal produce has obviously been a great source of inspiration for us all and once again, I will have a very difficult job selecting a winner.

I’ll be posting a round-up in the next few days. In the meantime, get your August ‘thinking caps’ on and look out for the new link-up very soon.
 
This month will be spectacular for seasonal goodies, the sunshine has been out, the fruits are ripening, bushes are bursting with berries – meaning lots of free food!
 
Your garden or veg patch may be throwing out more courgettes than you can handle.
 
The Farmer’s Markets are also literally bursting at the seams with summer stoned fruits such as peaches and glorious plums – British Victoria plums are my absolute all-time favourite frui. I bought my first punnet already and ate the lot, though the ones on our tree in the garden are still a little green.
 
I’m currently at my mum’s house and this morning we’ve been collecting small, but sweet apples that have fallen from the tree already. Normally, they’d be ready to eat in September but we’ve scooped them up and cooked them down with cinnamon and the tiniest touch of sugar and we’ll be baking this delicious Polish Apple Cake (my most popular post!) and some apple sauce to go with some locally bred pork.

There is also a huge crown of rhubarb growing nicely (watch out – the leaves can be poisonous so just use the stalks) and my little boy had great fun yesterday digging up some of my mum’s homegrown potatoes. I’m totally inspired without even having to step foot in the shops!

What’s growing in your garden? What’s standing out at your local shop/market?I can’t wait to find out.

 

Honey Nut Toasted Oats with Ribena Berry Sauce

This is a quick breakfast post in response to Helen’s Breakfast Club challenge this month hosted by Helen herself over at Fuss Free Flavours.

The theme this month is cereal and we are asked to do something interesting with it. So, I made homemade ‘granola’ using rolled oats very lightly coated with honey, rapeseed oil and mixed nuts gently toasted in the oven.
Granola is very popular breakfast cereal in America, essentially it is a cereal made of oats that are baked until crisp and then dried fruits are added. Muesli (Swiss) is also a well-known breakfast cereal, but in muesli the oats are not baked. Granola is really easy to make, stores well in an airtight contained and best of all as you are making it yourself you can adjust the flavours, for example, to include more cinnamon. I used cinnamon sugar as I had it in my cupboard but if you don’t have that use brown sugar and add a teaspoon of cinnamon powder instead. This granola can also be sweetened with maple syrup too instead of honey before baking.
Once baked the granola is crisp and crunchy and can be eaten either with milk or yoghurt. You could also make it healthier by adding fresh fruit to your bowl. This weekend we had ours with little pots of homemade blackcurrant compote – calling it ‘Ribena Berry Sauce’ encouraged my kids to add some to make their cereal purple! I also slightly defeated the pursuit of crunchiness by pouring hot milk over mine – but that’s just because I am fan of having hot milk with all kinds of cereal.

Add your fruit, whether dried or fresh to the oats and nuts after baking. You are looking out for a gentle golden colour so be careful not to burn!

 

Honey Nut Toasted Oats with Ribena Berry Sauce
Oats inspired by a recipe for ‘Crunchy Granola’ by Michelle Stern
The Whole Family Cookbook

Ingredients

300g rolled oats (not quick cook)
50g pecan nuts, finely chopped
50g almonds, finely chopped
75g cinnamon sugar
A pinch of salt
60ml honey or maple syrup
60ml rapeseed or vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
50g raisins and/or chopped dates

For the Blackcurrant Compote/Ribena Berry Syrup

150g blackcurrants
2 tablespoons caster sugar
60ml water

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees celcius

2. Put the oats, nuts and cinnamon sugar into a bowl and mix well.

3. Combine the honey, oil and vanilla in a separate bowl, mix and then pour over the oats and nuts. Stir well to combine – it won’t be greasy.

4. Pour the mix onto a baking tray lined with greaseproof or baking paper and spread into an even layer.

5. Bake for 20 minutes and stir after 10 minutes to ensure the top bits don’t get too toasty.

6. While this is baking, put the blackcurrants, sugar and water into a small pan. Heat until the mixture begins to bubble, stir and cook for five minutes. (Check your oats in the oven!!) If you want the blackcurrant sauce to be thicker, cook for a further few minutes on a low heat. Take off the heat and leave it to one side.

6. Take the oats of the oven and leave to cool. Add the raisins and/or chopped dates.

7. Serve with cold or hot milk or yoghurt. Store the rest in an airtight container.

 

Blackcurrants are in season in the UK at the moment – they are a wonderful summer fruit – so I will link this up to Simple and in Season too.

Spatchcocked Chicken with Aubergine

You may remember that a little while ago I was invited to attend a Knorr event to meet and watch a cookery demonstration by Marco Pierre White. The day was a great success, with my expectations definitely being exceeded. It was a fantastic opportunity to meet Marco and to find that he was such a friendly chap keen to share his knowledge. 

Since meeting Marco I have definitely taken on board many of his tips, particularly when it comes to using Knorr stock cubes to make a paste, as per Marco’s Steak Challenge.
A few weeks ago, we were sent a huge chest containing and some lovely organic seasonal vegetables from Rod and Ben’s and lots of really tasty organic meat from The Well Hung Meat Company (both of whom offer delivery boxes) along with some obligatory Knorr products.
I’m pleased to say that I was very able to easily flatten (spatchcock) a chicken following Marco’s online instruction and re-create a recipe for Spatchcocked Poussins with Aubergine that Marco had sent us as an exclusive preview, ooh err. If I had got round to blogging about it sooner, it would have been exclusive to you too! As it happens, this recipe and lots of other seasonal treats by Marco are now available on the Knorr website.
I had previously bought pre-prepared flattened chicken in the supermarket, but had never tried it myself. On my first attempt I think I actually managed to de-bone the whole chicken and on my second attempt I just took out the backbone – which was much better!
I think it’s good to challenge yourself from time-to-time and this is a really great trick to have up your sleeve. It works particularly well if you are cooking food on the bar-be-que.
Anyhow, as mentioned in my earlier post, I also managed to re-create a fresh beetroot salad that had been served at Marco’s restaurant at Stamford Bridge which went really well with my spatchcocked and griddled chicken. The result was a lovely summery meal, and though I had cooked the chicken and aubergine on a griddle pan, it did have a lovely charred flavour and made me want to fire up the bar-be-que for next time.
Spatchcocked Poussins with Aubergine
Recipe by Marco Pierre White, posted with permission.
Serves 2
Blanching the poussins before you cook them on the griddle or barbecue helps speed up the cooking process so you end up with poussins that are tasty, with nice crispy skin.
Ingredients
2 Poussins spatchcocked (ask the butcher to do this for you if you can’t)

1 lemon
1 Knorr Chicken Stock Cube
1–2tbsp olive oil
1tsp chopped thyme
1 aubergine, cut into 4 thick slices lengthways

Method
1. First, bring a large pan of water to the boil. Add in one of the spatchcocked poussins and blanch it in the boiling water for 5 minutes; remove and drain in a colander.
2. Repeat the process with the remaining poussin. This blanching process helps you cook the poussins through properly.
3. Set two heavy griddle pans to pre-heat. The pans should be nice and hot before you add the poussins.
4. Make the seasoning paste by taking the lemon and finely grating its zest. Mix together the lemon zest, a crumbled Knorr Chicken Stock Cube and the thyme in the olive oil until the stock cube has dissolved.
5. Spread half the paste over the skin side of the spatchcocked poussins. The great thing about using a paste like this for seasoning is that it sticks to the meat as it cooks.
6. Place the spatchcocked poussins seasoned side-down on the pre-heated griddle pans. Spread the remaining seasoning paste evenly over the unseasoned side of each poussin.
7. Cook the poussins on the griddle pan over a medium heat for 10 minutes, drizzle over a little olive oil, then turn over. Cook for a further 5 minutes.
8. Rub a little olive oil over the aubergine slices and add to the griddle pans, so they cook alongside the poussins. After 5 minutes, turn the aubergine slices over.
9. Check the poussins are cooked through with a sharp knife and, if needed, place in a pre-heated oven at 180°C/350F/Gas Mark 4 and cook for a further 10 minutes or until thoroughly cooked.
10. Place the griddled aubergine slices on a warm serving platter. Top each slice with one of the cooked spatchcocked poussins. Cut the zested lemon in half and squeeze over the juice from both halves. Drizzle over a little more olive oil to taste. Garnish with the sprigs of herbs and serve.

Thank you to Knorr, Rod and Ben’s and The Well Hung Meat Company for putting together my box of goodies.

Sweetheart Cabbage and Basil Soup

There are times when I seek simple, wholesome food. Perhaps it’s the weather (we’ve had a rainy spell here) or perhaps I’m slightly panicked by the fact that we’re officially in school holiday territory and my ‘uniform’ of black and baggy simply won’t do for much longer. Either way, my two favourite soups for this kind of mood are homemade chicken soup and this one, homemade Sweetheart Cabbage and Basil Soup.  Both are prescribed in very specific circumstances! 

Sweetheart cabbage is also known as ‘pointed cabbage’ and is pale green in colour. Really, any cabbage can be used for this soup.  Obviously, there is a very well-known cabbage soup diet – and no, I’m not on it. However, I do like cabbage (it is a requirement of being Polish) and this soup uses a whole assortment of seasonal ingredients – British Sweetheart cabbage (I adore the name), courgettes (Zucchini) and baby carrots. If you use fresh tomatoes, they would be in season too, perhaps even home grown. I always keep a pot of fresh basil growing on my kitchen window – so technically, that’s in season too. If you wanted to add extra substance, you could add a tin of organic chickpeas or perhaps butter beans.

You could also very easily give this soup a French makeover, by adding a tablespoon of fresh green pesto at the end, making it a more like a Soup au Pistou. It also tastes even better with a sprinkling of freshly grated Parmesan over the top. Far from being reminiscent of over-boiled cabbage of school days, this soup is light, the cabbage has a ‘bite’ and it is strangely comforting.

It goes without saying, I’m adding the link to July’s round of Simple and in Season…don’t forget to add your seasonal recipes too.
 

Tomorrow I’ll be back to baking cakes for an end of term party. I also have a chocolate making course I attended to tell you about and a lovely baked blueberry cheesecake recipe to share…  

Sweetheart Cabbage & Basil Soup
Makes 8 servings

Ingredients:

A few sprays or one tablespoon of olive oil
1 Large white onion, chopped
8 Baby carrots, chopped into small cubes
1 Sweetheart/Pointed cabbage, shredded
3 Courgettes/Zucchini, cubed 
1 Tin tomatoes or 4 fresh tomatoes, peeled and de-seeded
1 Tablespoon tomato puree
1.5 litres chicken or vegetable stock ( a cube made up is fine)
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
1 Teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
10 Fresh basil leaves

Method:

1. Spray a large pan with olive oil spray or heat one tablespoon of olive oil.

2. Gently fry the chopped onions until they start to soften. Add your chopped carrots and cook for a further few minutes.

3. Add in the shredded cabbage and pour in the vegetable or chicken stock, add the tin of tomatoes and tomato puree. Make sure all the vegetables are covered with stock, if not, add some more liquid. Simmer for fifteen minutes.

4. Add in the cubed courgette/zucchini and cook for a further five minutes.

5. At the end, season with a twist of black pepper, a tablespoon of soy sauce and throw in a handful of basil leaves.